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David Shepherd

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14-6-2008 00:36

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ChangesPosted by David Shepherd on 14-6-2008 00:36

The Irish have rejected the Lisbon Treaty (formerly called a constitution.) The UK press are having a field day!

Eire, the only country in the EU to have a referendum, don't like the terms of the Treaty. But will anyone be able to say which terms? Perhaps their vote is a protest one? What are they protesting about?

Anyone who has visited Eire in the past 5 years will have noticed how well they have done in terms of development.

The only likely effect is to whip up a lot of anti EU feeling for a few days and then becomean amusing footnote in history. Or the day that democracy came to the EU?

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ChangesPosted by Mark Oates on 14-6-2008 13:59

The UK press is having a field day. No big surprise there. I'd be very interested to see what the Irish press was like in the weeks before the referendum, as I would not be remotely surprised to find the same agenda as the UK press.

I can't help notice the Tory party keeps a comparatively low profile these days about Europe, with the UK press taking over its rabidly eurosceptic credentials.

I suspect that virtually every country in Europe doesn't like the smell of the Lisbon Treaty, only the politicians like it because it's a new potential power base for them and another gravy-train.

ChangesPosted by Stuart McLean on 14-6-2008 16:23

Eurosceptic? Sounds far more effective than mere euro-skepticism. Happy

Let's not be naive here. Centralised control from Brussels has manifested in some fairly absurd edicts...what's wrong with a common sense approach to building strategic partnerships across europe? Even the US allows Federal and State laws, and I think had the referendum gone the other way it would have been the thin end of the wedge. Which translates to frites instead of chips - and where would we be then?!

I think it was a no-brainer from the start. However, it's sad in a way that we can't make it happen without completely screwing it up so royally with so many stupid, arguably biased and protectionist policies being forced through. Though I could be wrong. I usually am when it comes to politics.

ChangesPosted by Mark Oates on 14-6-2008 16:58

Quote:
euro-skepticism

Now, is that angloscepticism or a bad attack of US spellcheckeritis? Winking

I'm always wary about apparent absurd edicts from Brussels, as they've been filtered and interpreted by the eurosceptic press before we hear about them. I've been led to understand that a lot of so-called looney euroedicts actually make sense when they're in context.

I'm far more wary about hitching our wagon to the fifty stars of the ol' red, white and blue, frankly. I get the impression certain parts of the press and a political party would like the UK to be the 51st State. Except that the Yanks wouldn't have us - we have a large enough population that we'd not only tip the balance of power in the US, we'd overwhelm it.

ChangesPosted by Si Wooldridge on 16-6-2008 20:10

The EU won't crumble, they'll just do what they normally do: they'll ignore it and carry on regardless.

ChangesPosted by Mark Oates on 19-6-2008 18:11

Why stop there? They might carry on regardless, they won't carry on at your convenience. We'll all carry on screaming.

ChangesPosted by David Shepherd on 3-7-2008 07:59

Si thinks the EU will carry on regardless. I read that Poland is rejecting the Lisbon Treaty as well as Eire. Perhaps all the EU can do is to carry on as the new way of working (majority voting) is unlikely to be ratified soon.

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